iTunes Review

“It’s just a habit,” Built to Spill founder Doug Martsch sings near the end of the band’s first album in five years. But You in Reverse, however akin its often melancholy vocals and lyrics are to earlier BTS releases, finds the band with a new second guitarist (Jim Roth) and laying down some of its most sprawling, yet focused, studio tracks. The rushing “Goin’ Against Your Mind” lets drummer Scott Plouf take a lead role, while “Conventional Wisdom” pays homage to Television with a towering solo and even some chiming notes that could be straight from “Marquee Moon.” “Mess With Time” fittingly rumbles through a couple of tempo changes, at one point suggesting a kind of spaghetti-Western ska. Whether or not these songs’ sometimes bewildered verbal content reflects Martsch’s mood, their sonic attack gives notice that the man is nowhere near giving in.

Biography

Formed: 1992 in Boise, ID

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Built to Spill were one of the most popular indie rock acts of the '90s, finding the middle ground between postmodern, Pavement-style pop and the loose, spacious jamming of Neil Young. From the outset, the band was a vehicle for singer/songwriter/guitarist Doug Martsch, who revived the concept of the indie guitar hero just as Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis -- another important influence -- was beginning to fade from the limelight. On record, Martsch the arranger crafted intricate, artfully knotted tangles...